Two powerful earthquakes hit Italy near site of deadly August quake

Two powerful earthquakes hit Italy near site of deadly August quake

ROME — Breaking news update

A second powerful earthquake struck central Italy near Perugia, the US Geological Survey said Wednesday. The epicenter of the magnitude-6.0 quake was 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) from Visso and 58 km (36 miles) from Perugia, the USGS reported. Just a few hours earlier, a magnitude-5.5 temblor struck the same region.

Original story

A magnitude-5.5 earthquake Wednesday hit central Italy, about 50 miles north of the site of a deadly quake in August that killed nearly 300 people, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicenter was south-southwest of Visso and the USGS said the earthquake was shallow. The quake hit at 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) between Perugia and Macerata, according to ANSA.

Visso is about 110 miles northeast of Rome and 50 miles north of Amatrice, the small town that lost about 270 residents when a magnitude-6.2 quake hit August 24. Another 20 people were killed in nearby towns.

There have been no reports yet of damage or injuries.

“We don’t have any reported victims, but we’re in the dark and under a downpour,” said Mauro Falcucci, the mayor of the small town of Castelsantangelo sul Nera, according to state news agency ANSA.

“We’re waiting for the Civil Protection Department to bring us lighting towers.”

CNN’s Barbie Nadeau was in Rome when the quake struck. “Incredible aftershock or earthquake felt in Testaccio in Rome. Wow,” she said on Twitter.

Civil protection spokesman Antonio Flippini confirmed to CNN that there have been no known injuries so far.

Flippini told CNN that previously damaged buildings had suffered new collapses and that part of the Salaria highway in the Marche region near Amatrice have been closed over concerns of structural damage.

The areas affected by the August 24 earthquake remain off-limits, with no residents living there.

Police have offered those living in tent camps the opportunity to stay farther away tonight as the rain falls.